SiteDirector - Support
Knowledge Base Topics
Yes, we recommend and have used the following hosting solutions (in no particular order).
http://www.edgewebhosting.net
Good hosting company that has used SiteDirector and we have used in the past.
http://www.enterhost.com
We currently have our dedicated servers through Enterhost.
http://www.hostmysite.com
Strong Coldfusion host, many folks really like their services and support.
http://www.cfmxhosting.co.uk
United Kingdom hosting solution
Give one of those hosts a try. You will be looking for a hosting account that has Coldfusion and SQL Server.
** Note: Godaddy hosting solutions will not work with SiteDirector. Go Daddy doesn't utilize CFObject, CFDirectory which SiteDirector needs. There are plenty of hosts that allow use of these tags, but Godaddy doesn't so you shouldn't use them.
Recently Crystaltech (http://www.crystaltech.com) started to require the email address and password to be used with a CFMAIL call.
SiteDirector doesn't require this, so you will have to make a modification to your files if you are on Crystaltech.
Solution:
Open up the files below and change all <cfmail.... tags by adding the following two parameters.
username="--your username --" password="-- your password --" within the <cfmail... tag.
Files affected:
/cart/processors/paypal/ipn.cfm
/components/mailController.cfc
/console/builder_customers.cfm
/console/builder_mailroom.cfm
/site/wishlist.cfm
Those 5 different files utilize CFMAIL.
Yes, you would use the mailroom to send emails to your customers.
The mailroom is striaght forward and easy to use, there are two types of emails you can send, text emails and HTML emails.
One feature that will need some explaining is the SID value. SID stands for Source ID. This can be anything you want it to be, a numeric, alpha or alpha numeric value. This allows you to track your mail campaigns.
If you set the SID to XMAS1 you can send out an Christmas email to all of your customers and you will want to add the following to all of your links on the page:
http://www.yoursite.com/index.cfm?sid=XMAS1 and if there is already a ? in the query string, then it would be http://www.yoursite.com/index.cfm?whatever=1&sid=XMAS1
When a customer reads the email and clicks the link, SiteDirector will pickup on that SID value and store it in the customers profile and if they make a purchase, then SiteDirector will also record that value with the order. This will allow you to see how well your various campaigns are working.
As a side note, we also track AID which works virtually the same way. So as you put links out on sites or pay for banner ads, make sure you include the AID or SID values in your links so you can keep track of the success of your ads or emails.
Yes, SiteDirector's shopping cart tracks inventory if you turn it on and want to track it.
Things to remember about SiteDirectors inventory are:
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You have to have inventory turned on
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You don't have to inventory every product in your store, just the products you want to track inventory.
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You can only have "1" option item per product if you are wanting to track inventory and the option items will be tracked, not the product itself.
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You can only have 1 custom object per product to track inventory
Inventory tracking will keep track of the items on hand, and as an item is purchased, the inventory will subtract that quantity from the on hand total.
You can also define the notification level of each product. If the inventory on hand total falls below a specified count, an email notification will be sent to the store owner letting them know the inventory is low.
You can also choose to have a product backorderable or not. If it is set to backorderable and it runs out of stock, it will stay "live" on the site and continue to be available for purchase but put on backorder. If it is not set to backorderable, once the level runs to 0 or below, it will turn the product off of the site.
Member points or as some stores call them "reward" points are basically small dollar amounts rewarded to the customer that can be used on future purchases for discounts.
By default our member points if turned on offer 2 points for each $1.00 purchased. Each point has a multiplyer of $0.03 So for a $10.00 purchase, the customer would obtain 20 points, * $.03 per point = $.60 cents. Which is basically a 6% discount. You can adjust that calcualation to give more or less per point.
Each product has a "default" point value, and that can be changed on a per product basis. So you could give 4 points for some products and 1 point for another, but by default, each product gets 2.
The benefit of offering member points is to bring your customers back to buy more instead of being a 1 purchase customer. If they have 200-300 points, they may come back and make a significant purchase and keep on purchasing.
Many of the national big store chains are offering this because of the great return on their investment.
Yes, SiteDirector will work internationally and has been sold all over the world. Your shopping cart will allow you to show currency in your countries format.
We do offer Value Add Tax (VAT) for those in the UK and whom need to add VAT to their product line.
When installing SiteDirector, the LOCALE is part of the installation and you would choose your Locale and based on that setting, the Currency and number formats will be converted appropriately.
If you find that SiteDirector does just about everything for you but maybe missing a feature or an enhancement that would hold you back, consider contacting QuillDesign for a price quote on customer work.
We know that not every application fits every need, but SiteDirector fits most needs. If you need an additional feature added, contact us and we will either provide you with a price quote or put you in touch with a developer partner of QuillDesign.
The subscription or recurring billing feature found in SiteDirector is somewhat of a "half" finished feature.
We added to the product feature list, a recurring start date and a recurring cycle field. This will add the information into the database for a particular product.
But that is where it stops. Since there are so many different types of subscriptions and recurring billing choices out there, we decided to offer the feature, but allow room for development. The data is in the database, but you will have to define on your own how to utilize that information.
QuillDesign can do custom programming for you, so contact us for a quote. We also have a number of developers who are very familiar with SiteDirector and can also write the customized code.
In the future after feedback, we will develop a tool to make the subscription/recurring billing feature a full fledged feature.
Yes, with the release of version 4.3, SiteDirector's Coldfusion shopping cart will support Paypal payments as part of it's slew of payment options.
SiteDirector's shopping cart offers the following payment options:
Credit Card (realtime and not realtime)
Credit Card Over the Phone
Mail In Payment
Purchase Order
and Now PayPal
Currently SiteDirector v4.0 supports Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005 and MySQL.
Note:
We have discontinued support for MS Access - MS SQL or MySQL databases are so inexpensive and a much better solution!
Yes and No...
QuillDesign requires that you leave the copyright information and the QuillDesign / SiteDirector logos and wording in the console.
If you wish to have your own logo, and reference to a different name other than SiteDirector, you will have to purchase an additional license for branding. During the purchase process you can select each license with or without the branding feature.
So unless you purchase the additional branding license, you cannot change the logos, text links or references to QuillDesign or SiteDirector.
If you have further questions on this, please email mailto:info@quilldesign.com
SiteDirector v4 shopping cart was developed on Adobe Coldfusion MX v6.1 and tested on the latest version of CFMX 7 We also developed 90% of the application in Microsoft Access and MS SQL Server.
Requirements:
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Cold Fusion MX v6.1 or higher (Windows Server/Linux)
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MS SQL 2000 and 2005, and MySQL.
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Must have access to CFFILE, CFDIRECTORY and CFOBJECT.
Other than that, SiteDirector is a web-based application.
Sure, downloadable products are a new feature in version 4.0 of SiteDirector.
If your online store offers your products to be downloaded after the sale is completed, SiteDirector can handle it.
When building/editing a product you are allowed to "attach" a file to the product. When that product is purchased, a special key is generated and the file is placed in that customers personal directory for them to download at their leisure.
Additional handling fees are part of SiteDirector. When building/editing a product, you can add an additional amount for handling. So if you choose to add an additional $10.00 on top of the current shipping charges, you would add the 10.00 in the product page editor.
When the customer adds that item to their shopping cart, the system will add handling fees multiplied by the quantity purchased.
Yes, SiteDirector supports pricing levels based on percentages. You can setup an unlimited amount of pricing levels to give various discounts to various customers.
Example: You can setup Platinum, Gold and Silver pricing levels.
Platinum gets 10% discount on all products.
Gold gets 6% discount on all products.
Silver gets 4% discount on all products.
To take it one step further, you can disable pricing levels on the product level. If you have a product that you do not want to get a pricing level discount, you can turn it off and that product will not get a discount applied.
SiteDirector supports a handful of payment processors, our supported processors are:
Verisign's Paylfow Pro
Authorize.Net
LinkPoint / Your Pay
eProcessing Network
CDG Commerce (QuillDesign Recommended)
SiteDirector makes it very easy to add additional processors if your preferred processor is not on the list. QuillDesign can also help you integrate your favorite processor for a fee. Contact QuillDesign for more information.
Absolutely! You can add your normal images such as thumbnail, product page image and your BIG detail image. Plus you can add additional media; images, pdf's, word documents and more.
If you want to have additional images to help sell your products better, you can add any number of them to the product page by using the "Media Manager" found in the console attached to each product builder page.
For each media type, you can have the "main" image and a thumbnail too.
SiteDirector v4.0 supports all the MX versions. It was developed on CFMX 6.1 and tested on the latest versions of MX.
Note: SiteDirector will not run on CF 5.0 or below.
SiteDirector is unlimited in it's product support. You can add as many products to the database as you wish.
It is recommended that if your store is going to have alot of products that you run on Microsoft SQL Server instead of Microsoft Access.
There are just too many possible problems that Microsoft Access can run into that we always recommend the robust Microsoft SQL Server.
Most hosting companies offer a Microsoft SQL Server Databas with their hosting plans and it is fairly inexpensive.
At the present time, SiteDirector supports the following major shipping companies to get realtime shipping rates.
United Parcel Service (UPS)
Federal Express (FedEx)
US Postal Service (USPS)
In the near future we are adding DHL Support as well.
Besides the major shipping companies, we offer other types of shipping methods which can give you great flexibility and not be tied to one shipping company.
We offer the following shipping methods:
None (no shipping)
Flat Rate (1 rate for all orders)
Range Rates - shipping is based on dollar amount ranges
Percentage - shipping is based on dollar about and percentages.
With SiteDirector, your online store will have great flexibility in shipping.
Yes and No. No, you cannot adjust the copyrights and the references to SiteDirector or QuillDesign with your normal single license.
You can however purchase additional branding rights by paying an additional $100.00 per license. ($500 for a 5 pack) and contact QuillDesign for Enterprise branding.
Yes, ALL versions of SiteDirector are open source. We have created SiteDirector to be customized and expect changes to the code.
The code is fairly well commented and shouldn't be too difficult to find your way through.
You are welcome to modify the code, but keep in mind that if you are adjusting the code and there is a problem that you cannot solve. We will have to charge our normal hourly rate to help rectify the problem if it is because of your change in code. QuillDesign's typically quotes as a quote instead of per hour.
Unpack the archive into an available browsable directory on your system (/sitedirector/)
You will need to know the following information
-- System datasource from the coldfusion administrator
-- Datasource username/password (optional)
-- Database owner (usually just "dbo")
-- Database Type (currently: MS SQL 2000, MS SQL 7 and MySQL)
-- Webserver type (Windows or Unix System)
-- SMTP Server (check with your system admin)
-- SMTP Server Port (check with your system admin)
-- URL of secure website
Browse to /sitedirector/install/go.cfm and run through the installation process.
Once complete, follow the link to the console and log into the console.
To purchase QuillDesign products such as SiteDirector go to the order page found at CLICK HERE.
From there you can follow the instructions for purchasing. QuillDesign offers purchases by Visa, MasterCard and American Express.
Other forms may be offered, please inquire by sending an email to info@quilldesign.com.